Aretha Franklin said in 1968:
"there are only three things happening in London:
,
and
"
In the meantime,
broke up, and
needed to put together a band to comply with some touring commitments... but not just any band - a supergroup, no less, the one capable of bringing to life his bigger than life visions (though Keith Moon later commented that his idea was doomed to sink, to go down like a led zeppelin) Firstly, he needed a singer, but not just any singer...
Hey Jimmy... it's not that hard to figure out what about this boy that seduced you in 1968... those huge heavy-lidded eyes, slender frame and the voice to die for - OMG the VOICE! You just couldn't get enough of it...
By many accounts Superlungs had a lasting impression on people who heard him, and young Jimmy Page was no exception...
Not just a pretty boy with decent guitar skillz - he was in possession of one of the sexiest voices in history, with great range and "velvet and sandpaper" texture. Passionate, fiery over the top orgasmic intensity, which is precisely what Pagey was lusting after. He wanted this amazing voice for his own newly forming band, can you blame him?
Terry was already committed to tour with the Rolling Stones and a fascist studio recording contract with Micky Most. Forced to say no to Jimmy, he suggested that instead Jimmy should check out an unknown Birmingham singer, one Mr. Plant.
If the following rumor is true, it gets even juicier: (quoted directly from comments on YouTube by supermanoliver): "guys he only turned Jimmy Page down because he had already committed to the rolling stones 1969 tour as their opening act. he was already contracted to it. supposedly jimmy page asked keith richards if they could work something out and keith then threatened page or some crazy shit like that."
Later, next in line was
,
placing calls repeatedly, wanting Terry as their lead singer after Rod Evans left. Once again he declined, and the vacant spot was filled by
.
If you're still wondering why the hell big name musicians were lining up and getting into arguments over who gets their hands on this skinny teenager... and why the legendary David Lindley dropped everything and moved from California to England to live and record with Terry... listen to the song which has been on my "top 20 best songs EVER!!!" for the last 15 years... the song that gave him his nickname - Superlungs
P.S. Current update... Earlier this month Terry played a gig in Manchester... it was during some mellow acoustic piece that he lost his temper for a moment because some blabbermouth in the audience was obnoxiously loud. Terry stopped playing, walked to the edge of stage and said...
"Shut...the fuck...UP!!!" The audience applauded enthusiastically, Terry apologized and restarted the song.